Coffee Craze

I was really excited this morning when I logged into Twitter and saw that I've converted both Stephanie and Cassie to DiBruno's iced coffee.



Seriously though! It's the best iced coffee in this part of Center City. If you disagree, I'd love to hear it - especially if you know of a place where the iced coffee is just as good, but comes in anything larger than a 16 ounce size.

Breakfast this morning (in addition to my delicious iced coffee) was yet another yogurt-berries-granola conglomeration.



Still not quite in season, but we're getting closer. This round was much better than the craptacular raspberries I bought a couple of weeks ago - they were on sale at Target, I think, or maybe Wegmans, two for $5. One package was completely underripe, terrible almost-crunchy texture and zero flavor, and the other was very overripe - mushy and completely mold-covered by the next day. Sad face.

My dog is not right. Exhibit A:



Not only has she taken the cushion out of the dog bed, but she is facing the (completely blank) wall. Not watching TV, not paying attention to her humans, just staring at the wall. Until I called her name.



This only lasted a split second, and then I guess she realized that she was sitting on an uncushioned dog bed with no source of entertainment, because she immediately ran away.

On tap for today: lots of relatively uninteresting (read: blessedly not complicated) work, followed by a much-needed sweat session. I usually take Mondays as a rest day, which is always amazing at the time, but it leaves me feeling a little stir-crazy by this time Tuesday morning. I'm hoping PhillyGuy can make it to the gym with me tonight - he's been super busy at work and we haven't been able to work out together in months, save one or two sessions here and there. I miss my gym buddy!

Weekend Update

It feels so good to finally have a second to catch up.

Thursday I tried Zumba with my friend. Um, WOW. I ran the 1.2ish miles from my house to Versa Fit at 16th and Walnut, which felt AMAZING - running outside really is so much better than the treadmill, both mentally and on my knees. It was the perfect warmup for the class, also - I am not, how shall we say...coordinated. At all. Being warmed up made it a lot easier for me to follow along with the instructor.

I'm still on the fence about whether Zumba is right for me. It was definitely a blast - I sweated like crazy and the class flew by - but all of the jumping and pivoting was not good for my knee. I will probably try once more, wearing my knee sleeve this time, to see if that alleviates the pain at all.

PhillyGuy and I ended this week by taking advantage of Friday's gorgeous weather by grilling a big fat steak. I put together my standby brussels sprouts/mushrooms/onions mix, with olive oil, kosher salt and pepper.

We had a super-thick ribeye in the freezer that must have been at least 24 ounces, so we split it.

Let me tell you, PhillyGuy makes a mean steak. He seasons it very simply - just salt and pepper and garlic powder - but MAN it's good.

(What can I say...I basically like my steak still walking.) And there is nothing in the world as delicious as these vegan oatmeal raisin sandwich cookies that we've discovered at Whole Foods on South Street.

Can of diet coke provided for size purposes. That cookie is the size of my face. The two of us share one and can't even finish the entire thing...but good grief, it's amazing.

I spent yesterday at Kleinfeld's with one of my best friends, who is getting married next February. I don't watch Say Yes to the Dress, but everyone else I was with does, so they were downright giddy picking out all of the people they saw on the show. Much to everyone's surprise, my friend picked out and bought a dress yesterday - it's absolutely gorgeous, and as soon as she held it up, her entire face just lit up.

Too bad we couldn't carry that feeling all the way home - it kind of got eaten up when we spent an hour getting through the Lincoln Tunnel. (Don't look at me - I wanted to take the train.) It was a long, LONG day - fun, but exhausting. I crashed hard when I finally got into bed, which is probably why it was so easy for me to be out the door at 8:30 this morning to go grocery shopping.

Now I'm hanging out in bed after polishing off a big fat bowl of Fage 0, Whole Foods bulk bin ginger granola, blackberries, blueberries, raspberries and strawberries.

It's in the 40s, sunny and not as windy as yesterday - I'm thinking it's a perfect day to try to get in my first "long run" for Broad Street prep. I haven't run more than 5 miles since the half in November, so this might be a little creaky, but I'm hoping that my fairly consistent shorter runs will maybe bring my pace down a tiny bit...we'll see.

Happy Sunday!

uh...hi

yeah. I guess if there's one thing I do consistently, it's "fall off the face of the earth."

I mean, it's not really falling off the face of the earth, though. I still tweet. And I definitely read everyone's blogs. But yeah. I get busy at work, I can't spare enough time first thing in the morning to put together an entry, and then I can't seem to scrape up the energy to do it when I get home at night.

BAH. Regardless, here's what I've been up to:

A couple months ago, Leslie posted on Twitter about a fabulous LivingSocial deal - $25 for five classes at Philly Power Yoga. I bought my pass and then immediately started stressing about it. I was more than a little anxious - I'm a casual yogi, if there is such a thing. I love yoga, but I can go weeks or month(s) at a time without practicing - and when I do practice, it's usually the P90X yoga DVD, which is vinyasa-style, but with more of a focus on fitness than on proper form and meditation.

When I think hot yoga, I think "real yogis." Whatever that means. I start picturing a room full of skinny, ripped experts in lululemon hot shorts with high quality mats - not the $24.99 nike special I picked up at CitySports, or even the Wunder Under crops I've made my uniform, being that I'm not particularly comfortable in anything spandex that stops anywhere above my knee a the moment.

Frankly, I was too busy being intimidated by my imagination that I wasted a LOT of time that I could have been practicing the best yoga ever.

I finally bit the bullet and just WENT one Saturday a couple weeks ago, and I was instantly hooked. I'm pretty sure I didn't even sweat that much during Broad Street 2010, for starters. I got there about ten or 15 minutes early, which gave me enough time to cram myself into a back corner of the room, far away from the mirrors (clutch) and to get adjusted to the heat (double clutch). And, okay, I'd be lying if I didn't spend at least a little bit of the class fighting away negative thoughts about how much more flexible I could be, or how much stronger I could be, or how my love handles get uncomfortably in the way of any kind of side bend. But honestly? I can't even tell you whether or not the class was full of experts. I was too busy focusing on my own practice, and even the negative thoughts didn't stop me from leaving with a fantastically relaxed and cleansed feeling.

Also bonus: after sweating out buckets, I get to stop on the way home and grab an iced coffee from my favorite neighborhood shop.

So good.

I had to miss class yesterday - I had an engagement party to go to at 1pm, and I chose to spend my morning getting my nails done rather than at yoga. That opened up a little extra time beforehand, so PhillyGuy and I took advantage by having breakfast at Ants Pants.

I had the mediterranean omelet special, with black olives, feta cheese and argula and a side of fresh fruit.

And, naturally, we split an order of sweet potato fries. These are hands down the best sweet potato fries I've ever had - long-cut sweet potatoes fried up so that they're slightly crispy at the ends, but soft and delicious in the middle, sprinkled with kosher salt and served with sour cream and a sweet chili sauce to dip.

Amazing.

Time for me to head out. I've been having a lot of knee issues these last couple of months, but I'm going to give running outside a shot today. I really, really want to run Broad Street this year, but I need to take stock of where I am. Can you believe it's only six weeks away?

Bitter, Party of One

Most mornings I make my first cup of coffee at home and drink it on my way to work. Within 30 minutes of getting to the office, I'm ready for cup number two, so I head down to DiBruno's for the most delicious iced coffee I know of. I get at least one cup a day, sometimes a second one mid-afternoon, so the baristas know me and get my large iced coffee ready while I'm in line, so it's sitting there for me when I get up to the register.

I've lamented before the fact that DiBruno's hasn't jumped onto the bucket-o-beverage bandwagon with most American chains. The largest size they offer is a (very reasonable) sixteen ounces. Some days, that's plenty. Most days, I suck it down instantly and wish I had four more waiting for me. I could get an extra-large 20 (or 30 or 40 or whatever) ounce iced coffee from Dunkin Donuts, but...it's just gross. It's weak, kind of flavorless and sort of reminds me of dishwater.

Well, this morning, I didn't make my coffee at home. I figured I'd head straight to DiBruno's instead. And much to my disappointment, they were out of large cold cups...so I was stuck with twelve measly ounces.

Let's say it didn't last long. And that I'm glad Starbucks is on the bucket-o-beverage bandwagon.


DiBruno's may as well have given me a shot of coffee.

It's no secret that work has been pretty stressful for me recently. Lots of hours, but also a huge sense of urgency where everything has to be done NOWNOWNOWNOWNOW - which does great things to my blood pressure, I'm sure. I've been trying to force myself to the gym, even if it's only for a half hour or so just to get a good sweat, because it really does help.

Yesterday, all I wanted was to run. Work and related obligations had kept me out of the gym for three days, so I was starting to get a little stir-crazy. But naturally, my knee was bugging me for most of the day.

And I just start to get bitter. I see people on the treadmill and I get consumed with jealousy, and let me tell you, it ain't pretty. "OH, it must be NICE to be able to RUN WITHOUT KNEE PAIN. You're not so great. I could do that too if my knees didn't hurt." I even get bitter towards people who DON'T have knee pain but choose not to run, like they're somehow obligated to engage in that particular high-impact activity just because their patellas are in the right place all the time.

Most of the time, that bitterness subsides once I get moving doing whatever it is I end up doing instead of running - whether it's yoga or hill intervals on the bike or just lots of [relatively] heavy lifting. I recognize that it's not rational, but I just can't help it sometimes.

Lucky for me, last night my knees actually behaved just fine while I was running. I ran about 1.2 miles in ten minutes, increasing my speed from 6.5 to 7.0 to 7.5 as I went. I probably could have gone farther, but given the pain I'd been having earlier in the day, I didn't want to push my luck. And happily for me, that was all I needed - it was enough to get me started on sweating, enough to get my heartrate up, and enough of a start that I didn't have any trouble keeping my heartrate up when I moved over to the bike for another 20 minutes. I wrapped it up with P90X chest, shoulders & triceps (I don't really care for this workout - too many weird moves), and returned home a much happier Chrissey.

I love endorphins. I also love that it's Friday. Plans for the weekend?

Saturday Brunch

PhillyGuy and I always say things to each other like "Man, there are so many great places in the city that we never try!" Because, well, there are. And we don't.

So today, we did. We headed over to the other side of Broad AND the other side of Vine (hoooooboy are we getting crazy now!) to have brunch at Prohibition Taproom this morning.

I started with coffee...

AND a bloody mary, since it came free (!!!) with our meal.

I love me some bloody mary mix. This one was a nice, tasty standard - not a ton of horseradish, not too spicy, and nothing crazy or fancy about it. Just an olive, a lime, and spicy tomatoey goodness.

We split an order of the tempura-battered green beans to start. Holy COW, these were good. The batter was crunchy and salty, the beans were crisp and the aioli was tangy...I could easily have eaten buckets and buckets of these. BUT, I needed to save room for our entrees.

We split two things. The croque madame:

Pork roll, fried eggs and beer cheese sauce over a crusty baguette, and...

the burger special - gruyere, watercress, truffle oil and yet another fried egg. SO GOOD. I saved the aioli to dip fries and smear on the last of the burger bun.

With such a heavy breakfast, I'm still not hungry now, at 7pm...which I guess is a good thing. I also guess it's a good thing that I started my day off at the gym.

I haven't lifted in what feels like ages - while I've been good about getting to the gym regularly despite my nutty work schedule, said nutty work schedule leaves me craving the best possible sweat in the shortest amount of time - which for me is always cardio.

So, this morning, I started off with a couple quick miles (five minutes at 6.5mph, six minutes starting at 7.0 and increasing by .1 every 60 seconds to 7.5mph, then reversing back down to 7.0 again and cranking it back up to 7.5mph to finish off my two miles in about 17 minutes. Anything to combat treadmill boredom!), followed by P90X back and biceps. And WOW, it's been a while since I've done that workout, and it showed...I was totally spent by the end.

That particular workout ends with a strip-set of curls - you're supposed to do four sets of 8 and decrease by 5lbs with each set, but for little ol' me that's not mathematically possible. So, I started with 15lbs, decreased to 12.5, then to 10 and then to 8 for my last set. I gotta say, there's just something I LOVE about the feeling of your biceps shaking, even with 8lb weights, and then that delicious, DELICIOUS relief when you throw those little 8lb dumbbells down at the end.

So now, Cosmo and I are chilling on the couch (shocking) waiting for PhillyGuy to get home. I'm hoping I can get him to watch a movie with me tonight...I'm thinking either something with Woody Allen or something by David Mamet. A coworker recommended "the Spanish Prisoner" earlier this week, but I can't find it on demand and now I'm on a mission. Any recommendations?

Halfway Home

I cannot believe the week is more than halfway over! I guess that's what being busy does.

This weekend, we brought Cosmo home a new bed.

He likes it. A lot.

It's currently sitting on the couch next to me. I'm hoping to slowly "trick" him into sleeping in this bed instead of OUR bed. Don't get me wrong, I like cuddling with my dog...but that M-Fer hogs the bed.

I know, I don't get it either. But believe me - less than 25 pounds is enough to shove me out of the way. And PhillyGuy. Somehow, by the time morning comes around, the two of us end up pushed out to the edge of our respective sides of the bed, and Cosmo is sprawled out in the middle, complete immovable.

Anyway. After the insanity that my job has been lately, I was DYING to run tonight. I crossed my fingers that my knee would behave itself, hopped on the treadmill and set out to run some intervals. I alternated between 6.5, 7.5 and 8.0mph for anywhere between 1 and 5 minutes at a stretch with no real rhyme or reason. I wrapped up three miles in 27:56 and was WIPED. MAN, I hate getting back into shape. It's freakin' rough.

Cosmo chilled on his bed next to me while I finished up some work and ate...you guessed it.

Roasted broccoli.

With a big fat pile of sundried tomato hummus and some (super classy) pre-cooked chicken.

While Sophie watched TV.

What can I say? I live a glamorous life.

I Have Been MIA

yeah. I've been MIA.

This week was full of...stuff. Lots of stuff.

Like this, which greeted me at my desk at 6:22 am on Thursday morning.

I hadn't started my day with a Starbucks latte and bagel in forever. This used to be my daily breakfast - until I moved from center city to G-Ho, where there is no Starbucks. At the time, I was actually concerned about that - I truly did not know where I was going to get my coffee. Answer: if I don't make it at home (see: copious amounts of Via and a reusable cold cup)...



...then I go to Good Karma, on 22nd between Pine and Delancey, or LaVa, at 21st and South. Or any of the other fun, neighborhood-y coffee shops all over this city. How, in god's name, did I manage to live in Philly for so long (like two or three years!) without realizing it? I guess that's what happens when you live in CC proper.

Anyway. That stack of documents is a third of what I had to review this week in time for my 10am meeting Thursday morning. I also had four filings, a bunch of agreements to finish up, and a lunch with new clients out in the 'burbs. It was a nutty week, and left me feeling like something just punched me in the face.



I still managed to hit the gym a few times, for some short speedwork and a bunch of time on the recumbent bike. The entire week, I was just counting the seconds for this:



I'm a casual snowboarder - I've gone a few times a year since college. I'm not anywhere near good, but I'm comfortable on green terrain and easier blues. PhillyGuy has never so much as touched a mountain, but I finally managed to drag him up to Camelback for some lessons and a weekend of fun, easy snowboarding.

We had some much-needed beers at a local brewery right by the mountain.



Why did the bar I worked at in college not do this?